Layla the Little Mermaid
by WinxGirl34
Summary: The Last of the Winx Disney Princess Collection. The Little Mermaid starring Layla and Nabu.
1. The Sunken Ship

**~Layla the Little Mermaid~**

Chapter One: The Sunken Ship

Seagulls soared over the skies of Magix, and dolphins jumped in and out of the water playfully, when they looked up to see a gigantic ship come up out of the morning fog. The sea creatures hid underneath the water while the ship passed, and popped back up when it did. The Royal Ship of Magix made waves in the crisp, clear sea water as it moved along. The crew on board pulled up a net of fish from the side of the boat as the rest of them hoisted the sails, revealing a beautiful mermaid statue on the front of the ship, and Prince Nabu was helping them maintain the ship.

"This is so great!" The prince of Magix declared, "The sea air and the wind blowing in our faces. It's the perfect time of year to be at sea!" Nabu's cheery attitude was then changed when he saw his good friend Riven looking a little on the green side.

"Yes," He began, "just peachy." And then he threw his head over the side of the boat to puke.

"A strong wind and a cooperating ocean!" a sailor shouted happily, "King Teredor should be in a good mood."

"King Teredor?" Nabu asked in confusion

"The ruler of the mer-people, my prince." The sailor explained, "Every good seaman knows about him."

"Mer-people." Riven huffed, "Nabu, don't listen to his crazy stories."

"They aren't stories, they're the truth!" The sailor shouted, pointing a live fish at him, "I'm telling you they live deep in the depth of Magix's oceans." But as the sailor continued, the fish wanted to struggle on of the sailor's grip. It landed on Riven's face as he tried to grab it, but it got away and fell back into the waters of Magix. It took a deep breath of water and swam deeper into the ocean. The little fish the swan across seaweed, and pretty so, mer-people began to follow it. Mer-people of all sizes followed it across the ocean floor, far and wide, toward the beautiful Androsian palace that shone brighter than the sun up above. The numerous mer-people entered the palace doors and gathered into the grand auditorium, where fish with trumpets played the music that would announce the king's arrival. Once the music had played, a tiny seahorse appeared.

"Announcing the King of Andros, Teredor!" it declared, then the king rode out on a giant seashell being pulled by dolphins. He was rode to the middle of the stage and used his magic staff to create what looked like fireworks for the people of Andros to enjoy.

"And now, the composer of this performance, Saladin!" The little seahorse announced once again as a littler shell came in with a crab riding it, it was being pulled roughly by two small fish. The fish got a little rowdy, but once the crab got them settled, he rode along side the king.

"I am truly looking forward to this, Saladin." King Teredor told him.

"Don't you worry, my king. This will be the best concert I have ever put together." Saladin assured the king as he touched down on the rocks with his giant shell, "And your daughters will be just beautiful!" Then, the little fish pulling Saladin's shell wanted to pull again, making the shell flip upside down, and Saladin had to climb back up.

"Especially my Layla!" King Teredor replied.

"Oh yes!" Saladin agreed, finally getting back in his shell, "She has one of the most beautiful voices in Andros, and her eyes are the deepest sea green."

"She got them from her mother." Teredor sighed.

"If only she'd attend the rehearsals at least." Saladin thought out loud as he rode on stage as the mer-people of Andros clapped for him. The lights went down as he touch down beside a podium and pulled out the sheet music for the concert. As he set it down, he tapped his conductor's baton a few times, then began to instruct the orchestra. One by one, Teredor's daughters all came out of clam shells, singing their parts flawlessly. However, when they all were about to open the last one, which contained Layla, she was no where to be seen, and the entire performance was ruined. Saladin gasped in shock, and King Teredor was not at all impressed.

"Layla!" He shouted furiously, "Don't tell me she swam off again!"

* * *

At the same time, a young mermaid named Layla, with dark skin and wavy dark red hair had uncovered yet another sunken ship that she expected to find lot's of human treasures for her collection. She gaped at the scene before her for a minute when she heard a voice calling her name.

"Layla, wait up!" It called.

"Well, hurry Anne!" Layla laughed,

"You know I can't swim as fast as you!" Anne shouted, she was another mer-maid who was best friends with Layla even since they were kids. Layla just stared ahead at the sunken ship.

"Isn't it wonderful?" Layla asked in awe.

"Yes, its great." Anne replied hesitantly, "Now can we get going?" And then she began to swim away, but Layla grabbed her hand.

"You're not turning chicken now, are you Anne?" Layla asked in a teasing way.

"No, it just looks dangerous in there, and you know your father would freak if we got hurt." Anne told her.

"All right then, I'll go inside, you just stay out here and watch out for sharks." Layla suggested, knowing Anne did not want to do that.

"Okay, I'll watch out for sharks out here." Anne began as Layla swam into one of the portholes of the boat, "Sharks! Layla, don't leave me out here!" But when she swam into the same porthole, she got stuck.

"Layla, I can't get out!" She called, "Help!" Then Layla turned around to go and help her best friend out of her jam.

"Oh, Anne." Layla laughed, pulling on Anne's arms.

"Do you really think there'd be sharks around here?" Anne asked Layla.

"Don't be such a baby, Anne." Layla told her.

"I'm not a baby!" Anne protested as Layla finally was able to pull her friend out of the porthole. While the two mermaids were talking about sharks, one passed by the hole right after they had gone. Anne and Layla both swam within the ship.

"Oh this is just great." Anne though sarcastically, "Adventure, thrills… danger everywhere you look…" And then she screamed and swam ahead to Layla, causing the two mermaids to collide.

"Are you okay, Anne?" Layla asked when she heard a crashing sound that resulted when Anne swam to her.

"Yeah I am." Anne told her.

"Are you sure?" Layla pressured.

"Yeah." Anne reassured her, and then they continued their descent into the bottom of the ship. They both swim into a room where Layla saw the most extraordinary thing ever in her life.

"Oh, look Anne!" She cheered, "Have you seen anything this awesome before?" Layla then picked up the little tool that they had discovered, turns out it was what humans would call a fork.

"Sweet!" Anne thought out loud, "What is it?"

"I don't know, but I bet you that Chatta will!" Layla answered her as a shadow drew near the window they were by.

"Did you see something?" Anne asked worriedly as Layla swam away to look at some of the other treasures of the room.

"I wonder what this could be?" She asked, picking up a pipe.

"Layla!" Anne cried out.

"Would you calm down." Layla told her, "Nothing is going to happen." But Anne turned around to see the shark approach. It broke through the window as Anne screamed in fear.

"Shark!" She cried, "We're toast!" And so, the shark followed Layla and Anne around the ship as the two mermaids tried to avoid it. The monstrous beast destroyed the ship with its body trying to get to the girls. Layla got away, but left her bag, and had to do some dangerous swimming to not get hurt to get it back. Then they swam towards the portholes, Anne trying to get through, and Layla having to push her through. They made the shark chase them around an anchor before getting it caught in the top. The shark attempted to struggle free, but was unsuccessful.

"Serves you right, you overgrown bully!" Anne shouted courageously only to be snapped at by the shark and then she swam away to follow Layla.

"You really are a baby, Anne." Layla laughed teasingly.

"I am not!" She protested once again as they headed towards the surface of the ocean.


	2. Layla's in Trouble

Chapter Two: Layla's in Trouble

Chatta the seagull was sitting on a rock, playing with a telescope while humming a tune. She just relaxed there before she heard someone calling her name.

"Chatta, hey Chatta!" She heard the voice call, and put the telescope to her eye, but it was the wrong way, so it looked like the one yelling was very far away.

"Layla, how are you?" She shouted before parting the telescope from her eyes, "Whoa, that was a fast swim."

"Chatta, look what we found." Layla declared.

"We were in this sunken down ship, it was so scary." Anne added.

"People's stuff?" Chatta thought, "Let me see it." The she ran down the rock and began digging in Layla's bag.

"Well, would you look at this," She began, taking out the fork, "This is a very rare find you have here girls."

"Could you tell us what it is?" Layla asked Chatta.

"It's a comb!" Chatta told the two mermaids, "Humans use this to straighten their hair. You see, you just streak it through the strands of your hair like so." Then, Chatta returned the comb to Layla.

"And what about this?" Anne asked, giving Chatta the pipe.

"This I haven't see in ages!" Chatta gasped in surprise, "Now let me take a look… this my friends, is a flute. The flute dates back to the 1830s when people had to sit around and stare at each other for entertainment, it got really boring. So then the invented the flute to make beautiful music, I'll show you."

"Music!" Layla shouted as Chatta began blowing into the pipe.

"It's clogged!" Chatta told them, "Maybe you could be able to get this stuff out."

"The concert! My dad's gonna water me for sure!" Layla continued to panic.

"That concert was supposed to be today?" Anne asked.

"We're sorry, Chatta, we really have to go!" Layla yelled as she began to swim back in the ocean with Anne, "Thank you so much!"

"No problem, Layla!" Chatta shouted back, "That's what friends are for!" And so, Layla and Anne started the fast swim back to the castle of Andros, but they were unaware that someone was watching them. Two someones to be exact. Two other mermaids hid in the shadows and followed Layla and Anne as they swam by.

* * *

Meanwhile, the oldest of the evil mermaids watching the two friends hid in her lair, watching Layla swim back toward the kingdom of Andros.

"Yes, hurry home, Princess Layla. You wouldn't want to miss your father's celebration, would you?" She thought to herself, "Celebration, yeah right! When I ruled, we had incredible feasts! And no look at me, I'm nothing now. Banished from Andros and constantly searching for food, while King Teredor and his people celebrate!" The, the oldest of the three evil mermaids revealed herself with her long white-blue hair and blue top and tail.

"Soon I will give them all something to celebrate!" She shouted, "Darcy, Stormy, keep a close eye on Princess Layla, she might be my ticket back on the throne of Andros."

"Yes, sister Icy!" The two other mermaids answered telepathically while they watched Layla from afar.

* * *

Back at the Androsian palace's throne room, Anne sat there glumly as she watched Layla get lectured by her father.

"I just don't know what I'm going to do with you, Layla," King Teredor sighed.

"Listen, dad, I'm so sorry. I just forgot." Layla protested.

"And now, because of your careless disregard for the rest of your family, the entire performance was-" King Teredor began.

"Ruined, that's it, completely ruined!" Saladin interrupted angrily, "This was supposed to be peak of my career as a conductor, and because of you I am the laughing stock of Andros!" Anne had just about enough, she knew that Layla couldn't take all the blame, so she courageously stepped into the conversation.

"It wasn't her fault!" Anne began, "It was the shark's fault… we tried to avoid it… but we couldn't. And then we saw this seagull, and then we-"

"A seagull?" King Teredor asked

"Way to go, Anne." Layla whispered as Anne covered her mouth in embarrassment.

"What, you girls went up to the surface again, didn't you? I want to to tell me the truth!" King Teredor demanded.

"Nothing happened, Dad." Layla reassured him.

"Layla, Layla, Layla, how many times must I explain this to you. You could've been seen by one of those fish eaters, those humans! Do you think I want to see my baby daughter on the plate of those horrible creatures?"

"Dad, I'm sixteen! I'm not a baby anymore!" Layla shouted.

"Don't you raise your voice to me, young lady!" King Teredor snapped, "As long as you live in Andros, you will go by my rules!"

"Well, maybe if you would just listen to me!" Layla began.

"This discussion is over!" Teredor yelled, "And I never want to hear that you went back to the surface again, is that understood?" All Layla could do was swim away upset as Anne followed her, and King Teredor hung his head.

"Teenagers, right." Saladin thought, "Give them an inch of responsibility and they end up walking all over you."

"Do you think I was too hard on Layla?" King Teredor asked his advisor.

"No, my king, if Layla was my daughter, I wouldn't tolerate all this nonsense about going to the surface. I would keep her under control."

"You're right, Saladin, Layla needs constant supervision." Teredor agreed, "Someone to watch her and keep her out of trouble. And I want you to do just that."

* * *

Saladin followed Layla and Anne as he mumbled to himself, but her noticed that they were going somewhere out of the kingdom once again.

"Where are they going now?" He thought to himself as he continued to follow the two teenage mermaids out of the kingdom. Then they began to swim away as Saladin was losing his breath while watching them. Layla and Anne reached a rock, and Layla moved it so that she and Anne could pass, and Saladin knew he had to hurry to see what was on the other side. So he quickly swam toward it and almost passed through, but he got stuck. He tried furiously to pull himself out, and was successful, but hit his head on an hourglass. When Saladin caught his bearings, he looked up to see the marvellous collection of trinkets and odds and ends that Anne and Layla had gathered. He had entered their hidden garden, and down on the floor of the garden, Layla lay there with Anne, sulking.

"Are you okay, Layla?" Anne asked her best friend,

"I just wish he could understand," Layla sighed, "I can't see things the way he does. I can't see how a place that creates such awesome things could be harmful to us." Suddenly the two mermaids hear a crash as Saladin rolled out of his hiding place and tried to grab hold of something, but ended up having a whole bunch of items for on him. The two girls turned to see what all the noise was.

"Layla, what is all this stuff?" Saladin asked.

"It's only our collection." Layla explained nervously.

"Oh, your collection, I see." Saladin replied calmly, then began yelling, "If your father knew you were-"

"You're not going to tell him, are you?" Anne asked Saladin.

"Please don't tell him, Saladin. He wouldn't understand." Layla begged.

"Layla, you seem to be under a lot of stress. I'll just take you home and get you-" Saladin began, but then Layla saw a big shadow covering the sunlight.

"What do you think that is?" She asked as she began to swim towards it.

"Layla, Layla wait!" Saladin shouted.


	3. Rescuing Prince Nabu

Chapter Three: Rescuing Prince Nabu

Layla swam towards the surface of the water, and once she hit it, she brushed the strands of wet hair from her face and gasped in amazement when she witnessed the Royal Ship of Magix. There was a colourful display of fireworks in the sky overhead as music played on board, and Princess Layla wanted to see what they were doing on the ship. Moments later, Anne and Saladin joined her up on the surface as she laughed joyously.

"Layla, what is going on?" Saladin asked, but his question was answered when he looked ahead to see what Layla had seen, "Sweet seaweed!" Then, without notice, Layla began to swim toward the ship as Saladin continued to call he to come back. She climbed up the ship as she could hear the music playing and the people talking, and she peaked through a window to see numerous members of Prince Nabu's crew dancing and laughing happily. She couldn't help but smile while she watched the fun. However, Nabu's pet rabbit, Milly could smell Layla's presence, and began sniffing the ground of the ship to find out what it was. Layla moved from the window before being seen by the small rabbit and let out a tiny gasp as she did. When she turned back, she was face to face with the little creature. It began to sniff her until Nabu had called her.

"Milly. where are you?" Prince Nabu called out, and the rabbit hopped back toward its owner and he picked her up to put on his lap, "What are you doing, Mill, what do you see?" Layla watched Prince Nabu play with Milly and looked at him dreamily, Suddenly her trance on him was broken when she heard a voice call to her.

"Hey, Layla!" It was Chatta calling her, and she flew towards the mermaid princess of Andros, "What a party, right?"

"Chatta, be quiet!" Layla hissed, "You're going to give us away."

"Oh, I see." Chatta whispered, "Where investigating… We're out to solve a mystery!" As Chatta yelled the last part, Layla covered her beak with her hands.

"I've never see a person this close it my life." Layla told Chatta quietly, "He's pretty handsome, don't you think?"

"He's kinda small and furry, don't you think?" Chatta asked Layla.

"No, Chatta, not that one!" Layla giggled, "I'm talking about the one playing the flute." Suddenly the music stopped, and Riven, Nabu's best friend, had an announcement.

"Everyone, as Nabu's good friend it is my honour to present him with a very large and very expensive gift." He declared.

"Riven, buddy, you shouldn't have." Nabu laughed.

"Well, happy birthday, Nabu." Riven shrugged as two members of the ship's crew pulled down the cover of a big present to reveal a sculpted statue of Nabu with his magic staff. However, Nabu and Milly were less than impressed with what Riven came up with.

"Wow, Riven, this is really something else." Nabu replied.

"Yeah well, I did want it to be a wedding present." Riven teased.

"Don't start this again." Nabu laughed, walking over to the window that Layla was at, but she moved before Nabu could see her, "You're not still disappointed that I didn't hit it off with the Princess of Domino, are you?"

"Nabu, buddy, it isn't just me. The whole kingdom wants to see you find the right girl." Riven told him. During this whole conversation Layla watched Prince Nabu, and the only thing that went through her mind was that he was single.

"Well, she's out there, I just haven't found her." Nabu sighed, and with that, Layla's face lit up with happiness, thinking that hopefully he would end up falling for her.

"Maybe you just aren't looking hard enough." Riven thought out loud.

"Oh, don't you worry, Riven. When I find her I'll know it. Without a shadow of a doubt it'll just hit me like lightening." Nabu replied, and just as he said it, lightening began to strike overhead, and a storm began to form in the sky.

"There's a storm coming!" The head crewmen shouted, "Secure the sails!" And so Nabu and the rest of the crew began to help secure the boat for the storm. Milly began making scared noises trying to find Nabu, and the waves crashed against the boat as Anne and Saladin looked out to find Layla. Chatta and Layla tried to hold on to the boat, but Chatta couldn't hold on the side of the rope any longer.

"The wind is too strong!" She called out as she was finally forced to let go, and was blow away in the wind of the storm, "Layla!" Layla was worried about Chatta, but knew she would be able to find her way back after the storm stopped. The ship then began to sway and tip due to the storm's harshness, and water washed up on the deck of the ship. Nabu knew that the ship's captain's wheel was unattended, so he took command and tried to steer the Royal Ship of Magix. Meanwhile, Layla tried her hardest to fight the wind, but it pulled her into the water. The Androsian princess knew she had to rescue the land born prince, so she swam back up to the fierce waves when suddenly one of the ship's sails was struck by lightening and caught fire. Layla gasped, knowing that Prince Nabu was still on the ship and his life was in danger. Suddenly as Nabu managed to get every one of the ship into a safety boat, Riven had fallen into the water, however the Prince of Magix grabbed his hand and pulled him up to the safety boat. Though there was one more thing that Nabu could never forget. On the ship, Milly cradled herself near the walls to try and avoid being burnt.

"Milly!" Nabu gasped as he jumped from the safety boat to the burning ship to save his little rabbit. He jumped on the burning deck, but he knew that the ship was about to burn down and one of the masts fell to the deck, causing the fire to increase. Just then he saw Milly hiding away from the flames. Nabu ran over to the edge with his arms wide open for the tiny rabbit to jump to him.

"Come on, Milly, you can do it, jump to me!" Nabu encouraged hastily, and with a little hesitation, the little rabbit jumped from her spot hiding from the flames to safety in her owner's arms. Nabu began to run back toward the safety boat, but before he could get off the burning ship, his leg got caught in the wood of the deck, so he had to throw Milly to the safety of Riven. Milly made a frightened whimper as she was thrown from the burning ship and caught safety in the arms of Riven.

"Nabu, where are you?" Riven called out, knowing that Milly was safe, but his best friend hadn't returned. Meanwhile, Nabu was still on the burning ship, and turned his head in fear when he saw the fuel supply catch on fire. And at that moment, the top of the ship exploded into millions of parts and smoke rose from the flames. Everyone on the safety boat gasped to know that Nabu could have just then died, Layla on the other hand began searching the burnt scattered rubble to find him, then she gasped to see him unconscious, using a wooden beam for a life raft. Suddenly, Nabu began to fall and sink into the water. Layla swam down into the ocean and grabbed him, pulling him up to the surface and giving him support with her arm. She watched the once beautiful scene of happiness become a wreck of rubble and burnt wood, thankfully no one else was hurt… that is perhaps, besides Prince Nabu.

* * *

The next morning, Layla had swam Nabu up on a beach, and was watching over him, wondering if he was going to be okay. Chatta managed to safely make her way back to Layla, while Saladin had taken Anne safely back home.

"Is he dead, Chatta?" Layla asked her. Chatta forced Nabu's eye open, only for it to close again.

"It's really tough for me to determine of he is." Chatta told her sadly, then she went over to his foot to check a heartbeat, "Oh, Layla, his heart's not beating."

"No, Chatta, hang on. He's breathing." Layla gasped happily, "He's just so dreamy." As Layla began staring and the half conscious prince, Anne and Saladin met up with them, and Saladin's mouth dropped when he saw Teredor's youngest daughter touching the face of a human. Moments later, Nabu's eyes began to open, and he could see Layla's face, her deep sea blue eyes were the most distinct feature he could make out while he was being blinded by the bright sun. Sudden she heard a familiar voice calling to him.

"Nabu, Nabu!" Riven called, running up to him as he came to, and when he did, Layla had disappeared, Nabu could feel Milly sniffing his face, she was relieved to know her owner was alive, "You really like scaring me out of my mind, do you?"

"There was a girl, she saved my life, Riven." Nabu rambled, "Her eyes were so… mesmerizing."

"Nabu, dude, I think you swallowed too much sea water." Riven laughed, giving his best friend a supportive arm, "Come on, we gotta get you home." Layla, Anne and Saladin watched as Riven took Nabu away back to the castle of Magix. Saladin was just about ready to blow his top at Layla for what had happened, but he kept calm.

"All right, Princess Layla, we're just going to forget that all of this had ever happened." He began sternly, "King Teredor will never now. You won't tell him and I won't tell him. I was keep my job." But all Layla could think about was Nabu, meeting him again, actually communicating with him without him being half conscious.


	4. Princess Layla's Crush

Chapter Four: Princess Layla's Crush

While Princess Layla was watching Prince Nabu be taken back towards his palace, the princess of Andros was being watched once again by Icy and her two sisters. The lead witch of ice just laughed wickedly as she witnessed what had just happened over the night.

"Oh, this is just too lovely." She laughed, "The young princess is in love with a human! Her dad is going to adore this, and King Teredor's stubborn lovesick daughter would make a sweet addition to my garden of prisoners." And with that she turned to look at the collection of frozen mermaids that she had imprisoned over the years, and continued to laugh evilly.

* * *

The next day, Layla and her sisters were preparing for the day ahead, however Princess Layla was taking a longer time in the bathroom than her sisters would have liked.

"Layla, come out of there, you've been in there all morning and I need to put on my face!" Stella shouted, and once she did, Layla swam out happily humming a beautiful tune.

"What is up with her today?" Musa asked as Layla took a flower from a bouquet on the girls' vanity, then on her way out, she just happened to bump into her father.

"Good morning, Dad." She replied as she gave him the flower, and he chuckled watching her leave the room.

"Wow, she's got it bad." Flora thought.

"What?" King Teredor asked

"Isn't it obvious, Dad," Bloom answered, "Layla is in love."

"Layla's in love?" King Teredor thought.

* * *

Meanwhile, Saladin was pacing on a rock, hoping that the king of Andros had not found out about his youngest daughter's antics the previous night.

"Okay, so far so good, I'm not sure if the king knows anything," He thought worriedly, "it's going to be very hard keeping something this great a secret for long." And while he paced, he was hit by flower petals as Layla sat daydreaming and picking petals off flowers in hopes that they would tell her if Prince Nabu loved her.

"He loves me… he loves me not… he loves me!" She shrieked, "I know he loved me!"

"Layla would you stop acting so insane!" Saladin shouted.

"I have to see him again, tonight!" Layla thought excitedly, "Chatta knows where he lives."

"Would you get your head out of the clouds and back in the ocean where it's supposed to be!" Saladin shouted.

"I'll swim up to Prince Nabu's castle, then Anne will splash around to get his attention, then I'll-" Layla continued, only for Saladin to interrupt her again.

"Layla, would you just listen to me, that world up there is a mess." He told her, "Life down here is much better than anything you can imagine up on the surface." However, Layla had just swam away, with Saladin not even noticing that she had left until he had finished his sentence.

"Layla…?" He asked, "I swear, I got to nail that girl's fins to the ocean floor to get any attention out of her."

"Saladin!" a voice called as the seahorse came swimming up to the rock Saladin was on, "Saladin, I have been looking everywhere for you, I have an urgent request from King Teredor, something about Layla." And with that, Saladin gasped in total horror.

"He knows!" Saladin breathed.

* * *

In the throne room of King Teredor, the king of Andros sat on his throne, thinking about his youngest daughter's new crush.

"Now who could the merman be that has stolen the heart of my Layla?" He thought to himself, when Saladin walked into the room, "Come here, Saladin!"

"All right, I'm not going to rat her out, I'm just going to remain calm." Saladin breathed heavily as he walked towards the throne of King Teredor, "Yes, Your Highness."

"I am concerned about Layla's behaviour." the king told Saladin, "Did you happen to notice that she's been acting strange today."

"Strange?" Saladin asked, "How so?"

"All morning she has been daydreaming, singing to herself… you haven't noticed this?" King Teredor explained.

"No, sire I have not." Saladin lied.

"Saladin, I know you're keeping a secret from me." Teredor replied.

"Keeping… a secret." Saladin squeaked nervously.

"About Layla." the king continued, "In love."

"I tried to stop her, Your Majesty!" Saladin shouted, "She just wouldn't listen to me. I told her to stay away from humans!"

"Humans?" Teredor asked angrily, "What about them?"

"Did I say humans?" Saladin asked nervously, and with that, he was grabbed by the king's hand.

* * *

With Layla and Anne, Anne was guiding her best friend to their secret collection, but she had to keep her eyes closed because Anne had a surprise for her.

"Why can't you just tell me what you found?" Layla asked excitedly.

"You'll see in a minute." Anne told her, "It's a surprise." And in a few moments she opened her eyes to see the statue that was on the Royal Ship of Magix that was supposed to be given to Prince Nabu, and it looked just like him.

"Oh, Anne, you're the best friend I could ever ask for!" Layla screamed in total joy as the two mermaids twirled around the statue.

"It looks exactly like him, it even has his eyes." Layla thought dreamily, "Prince Nabu, you want me to run away with you, I'd be more than happy to." And when Layla turned around, she could see her father's shadow in the darkness of the cave.

"I consider myself a merman of reasoning and compromise." He began sternly, "I have set certain rules for every one of you girls, and I expected them to be followed!"

"Dad?" Layla gasped in surprise, Saladin sat there behind Teredor, and Anne hid so that she would not be in the way.

"Is it true that you rescued a human from drowning?" Teredor asked his daughter angrily, "You know that contact with the human world with our world is prohibited! Everyone knows that!"

"He could have died if I didn't do it!" Layla protested.

"One less human to put harm to our kind!" the king shouted.

"How can you say that when you don't even know him!" Layla asked defiantly.

"I don't have to know him, they're all the same. Savage fish-eaters who don't even have any feeling-" Teredor continued furiously.

"But Dad, I love him!" Layla yelled, then seconds later she knew she would regret letting those words out of her mouth.

"Have you lost your mind, Layla?" the king of Andros asked her, "He's a human, you're a mermaid."

"I don't care!" Layla yelled.

"Well, if this is the only way to get through to you, young lady, then it must be done!" Teredor shouted at the peak of his furiousness as his staff began to glow. He began destroying all of the things that Layla and Anne had worked so hard to collect. Layla begged her father to stop the destruction, but he wouldn't. Moments of destruction and power had passed, and everything was destroyed except for the statue of Prince Nabu, it was the only thing Layla had left, however it was blow to pieces with Teredor's staff. Now everything was gone, and as Teredor's staff stopped glowing, Layla collapsed on the ocean floor and began sobbing uncontrollably. All King Teredor did was swim away quietly. And Saladin walked up to the crying mer-princess.

"Layla?" He asked softly.

"I don't want to talk!" Layla answered in tears, so Saladin and Anne both left Layla alone to sob


	5. Icy's Deal

**Yes I finally uploaded this story! Feels so long since I did, but it may have only been a week.**

* * *

Chapter Five: Icy's Deal

As Anne and Saladin were leaving, Icy's sisters Darcy and Stormy swam up to the princess of Andros slowly. Their shadows loomed over her, but she did not care to notice until Darcy began talking to her.

"Poor young mermaid, so innocent, but she has a very big dilemma." She began as Layla looked up in surprise, "If only we could do something for her... but we can."

"Who do you think you are?" Layla asked with a sniffle.

"You shouldn't be scared of us." Darcy told Layla calmly.

"We were sent here by someone who can help you, someone who can make all these dreams of yours come true with just a bit of magic." Stormy added.

"Imagine, Princess, you and your prince, together for all your lives." They continued in unison.

"I don't get it." Layla replied.

"Icy... has great powers that could be able to help you." Stormy told her.

"Icy, the witch of the sea." Layla questioned, "No way, I couldn't use dark magic! Get out of here! Just leave me alone!"

"Fine by us." Darcy replied, "We only wanted to give you the option." And as the two evil mermaids left the princess of Andros to continue sobbing, she kicked a rock with her tail. The rock was actually the remains of the statue of Prince Nabu, it was his face, and it landed right beside Layla. She looked up again to notice the charred bit of rock and could still make out Nabu's face from it. She looked at it for a moment before knowing what she had to do.

"Hold on a second!" She called out.

"Yes." The two witches hissed. Meanwhile, Anne and Saladin were thinking about what had just happened with Layla and her father.

"Poor Layla." Anne thought sadly.

"I didn't mean to let it out on her, you know I can't keep my mouth shut for ten minutes." Saladin told her. Suddenly they saw Layla follow the two evil mermaids out of her and Anne's now destroyed garden.

"Layla, where do you think you're going with those lowlifes?" Saladin asked when he swam up to her.

"I'm going to see Icy." Layla told him bitterly.

"Why are you doing this, Icy is evil, she's no good for you!" Saladin warned her.

"Well, if you think she's so bad, why don't you tell my Dad. You're good at doing that." Layla spat, swimming away furiously. Saladin was speechless when Layla snapped at him, but got his composure in a matter of minutes.

"Come on," He told Anne, "we have to follow her!" And so they all swam towards the dark parts of the ocean, Darcy and Stormy with Layla, and Anne and Saladin following a distance behind. They reached Icy's cave, and to Layla it looked very unsetting, she didn't know where to go from there.

"Over here." Darcy and Stormy instructed in unison as she began to follow them into the cave's entrance. Layla could see people frozen in ice coffins, and it was colder than usually, possibly because Icy loved it that way, and it kept her collection of prisoners in check.

"Come in, Princess." Icy's voice echoed in the door, "You shouldn't be standing in the doorway like that." And then, the queen of ice revealed herself.

"It's rude to do that." She continued her lecture, "Some people would question how you were brought up... No matter. You're here because you have a little crush on a human, Prince Nabu if I'm correct. I don't blame you, he is handsome."

"Yes, he is very handsome." Layla agreed nervously.

"Well, the only key to getting to see him again... is to become human yourself." Icy told Layla.

"You can do that?" Layla asked in surprise.

"Please, honey." Icy laughed, "It's what I live for nowadays, to help mer-people with problems just like you. I will admit I used to be villainous, but now I found that good deeds have made me a better woman. I do possess dark magic, yes, but I use it on mer-people who desperately need it and have no one else to go to. " And as Icy explained this in a total lie, Anne and Saladin managed to get their way into the cave to watch what Layla was going to do.

"However it has happened a few times where people couldn't pay up." Icy continued, "And with that, I had to take away their freedom. Sure I've had complaints, but at the end on the day, I'm being a good person to the ones who got what the wanted."

"I see." Layla replied hesitantly.

"But now, here is my offer, I will cast a spell on you that will give you legs for three day, no more, no less. This is the important bit, before the end of the last day, Prince Nabu has to kiss you, not just a kiss, the kiss of true love." Icy explained as Saladin and Anne crept into the cave while listening to Icy's offer, " And if he kisses you before the end of the last day, you'll be a human forever, but if he doesn't... you turn back into a mermaid and belong to me!"

"No Layla, you can't-" Saladin shouted, but Darcy cast a temporary gagging spell on him and Anne.

"So, do we have a deal?" Icy asked Layla.

"If I do become human forever, I'll never see my family again." Layla thought out loud.

"Yes, but you have Prince Nabu." Icy told her, "Life is just so full of tough decisions, isn't it? But of course, we haven't even discussed the matter of payment yet."

"I don't have much to give without-" Layla began.

"It won't be much to give, no one with miss it." Icy reassured her, "What I want from you is... your sight."

"My eyes?" Layla asked, "But how am I supposed to-"

"You have your beauty, and you voice. And don't forget there'll be people helping you along the way." Icy told her, getting the potion ingredients ready, "Now make your choice. I don't have all day, it's not going to cost you any more than your sight. Just sign right here, and we can get started." And after moments of hesitation, Layla took the pen from Icy and signed her name on the dotted line. With that action, Saladin and Anne gasped in horror at the decision Princess Layla had suddenly made. Then Icy began chanting the spell that would take away Layla's sight.

"Now open you eyes wide!" Icy instructed, and Layla obeyed, the spell surrounded Layla, and was close to grabbing the sight from her.

"Keep them open!" Icy continued, and suddenly the spell took her sight away and turned her deep sea blue eyes pure white. Icy laughed as she continued with her chanting, casting the spell the tore Layla's mermaid tail right in half to create a flawless pair of human legs. The magic then vanished, and Layla was scared, so Anne, now free from the gagging spell, grabbed her hand and pulled her up to the surface, with Saladin following closely behind. Layla jumped up from under the water with Anne supporting her shoulder, and they swam toward land.


	6. On Land

Chapter Six: On Land

Prince Nabu and Milly were on the beach, just sitting, Nabu still thinking about the girl who saved his life from the shipwreck just days ago.

"Those eyes, I can stop thinking about them, they were so... deep." Nabu sighed to himself, "I've looked throughout Magix and I just cannot find her!" And not too far away, Layla was resting on a rock with Anne and Saladin close by. Once Layla caught her breath, she sighed.

"How am I supposed to enjoy my new legs if I can't even see them." Layla thought, she lifted one leg and moved the muscles in her toes, she began wiggling them. Suddenly they all heard a voice calling to them.

"Well, who do we have here?" Chatta shouted, landing on Layla's legs, "There is something different about you that I just can't put my finger on."

"There sure is!" Layla smiled.

"Don't tell me, it's your hair, you've been using a comb, right?" Chatta asked.

"Nope." Layla laughed.

"New seashell earrings?" Chatta guessed again.

"No new seashell earrings, Chatta." Layla answered.

"I know if I just stand here for a few more minutes it'll come to me-" Chatta began but was interrupted by Saladin.

"She has legs, you dingbat!" Saladin shouted, "She gave her sight to Icy to get a pair of human legs."

"Layla has to make Prince Nabu fall in love with her, he has to kiss her within three days!" Anne explained as Layla tried to use her new legs, but tripped on a rock and fell back in the water.

"Ow!" She called out.

"Just look at her, on human legs!" Saladin shouted, "She's a wreck! My job will be gone, what will her father say? I'll tell you what he'd say! He'd say he'd make sure I was in the next royal meal of Magix! I'm going to get this young woman home this instant and tell her father what happened!" And with that, Layla picked him up in her hands.

"No, you can't do that, he'd totally freak!" Layla protested.

"Well, what did you expect!" Saladin shouted back, "Maybe there is still time, we can get Icy to give you back your sight. And then you can go home with all the other mer-people and just be..."

"Oh, come on, Saladin, I've risked a lot for this!" Layla begged.

"Miserable for the rest of your life." Saladin continued in a sigh, "Okay, I'll help you find Prince Nabu." With Saladin's sudden change of heart, Layla's face brightened with joy.

"Thank you, thank you!" She shrieked, and then gave Saladin a kiss on the forehead.

"Have I ever gotten soft?" Saladin sighed to himself. Then, Chatta began given Layla some advice about being a human.

"Now, the first thing about being a human is you have to dress like a human." Chatta told her, grabbing a leftover sail from the beach to cover Layla's bare skin. Back with Nabu and Milly, Milly was hopping along the beach when she saw something in the distance. She began running towards what she saw. With Layla, Chatta had managed to create some sort of dress out of the sail.

"You look amazing, Layla." Chatta told her, "You look absolutely fabulous." Suddenly, Milly came hopping toward Layla, she could here the rabbit coming and ran up to a rock, feeling it, and climbing up so Milly wouldn't get to her.

"Milly, where are you, girl?" Nabu called as Milly came hopping back to him, "What, what did you see?" And then he looked up at the rock to see Layla sitting there worried.

"Oh, now I see." He replied, walking towards her, "Are you all right, Miss?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." Layla told him.

"You look so familiar to me, have we met before by any chance?" Nabu asked.

"Actually we have met." She replied with a big grin.

"I knew it, you could be the one! What's your name?" Nabu asked, holding her hands in his.

"Layla." She introduced herself.

"What happened to your eyes, they're not..." Nabu began.

"I'm blind." Layla sighed, if she told him the truth that she was a mermaid who traded her sight to be with him, he would think she was crazy.

"Oh, I guess you couldn't be who I thought you were." Nabu sighed.

"No, I am, I just need you to help me and... whoa!" Layla couldn't see where she was sliding and she fell of the rock into Nabu's arms.

"Take it easy." Nabu told her warmly, " You must have been through something awful. I'll help you out, don't you worry."

"Thank you." Layla replied as he guided her away to the castle of Magix. Layla looked back to see Chatta, who gave her a thumbs up, and Anne waved happily.

Layla sat in a bath of bubbles as one of the castle maids named Faragonda cleaned her up. She gathered bubbles in her hand and was surprised to see them disappear in her grasp.

"So you were probably washed up from a shipwreck." Faragonda guessed, "Oh you poor thing, we'll have you feeling better soon." And then she walked over to where she had hung Layla's 'dress'.

"I'm just wash this for you." She told Layla as she tossed it in a tub of detergent, with Saladin still in the flap of it. He coughed out soap as three other maids of the palace were washing the clothes and talking about the new girl that Nabu had found. One of them soaked the rags under water, and put them on a conveyer belt like contraption they brought them outside to be hung on a line. As Saladin was being swung on the line in a pocket of a shirt, he jumped, unfortunately he jumped right into the kitchen of the palace. He looked up and gasped to see have cut dead fish, and fainted when he saw what they were having for supper, stuffed crab.

At the dining room table, Prince Nabu and Riven were talking about the girl Nabu had saw from the shipwreck that had saved his life.

"Come on, Nabu, girls don't just swim around in the ocean rescuing people." Riven began, " And then just disappear out of thin water."

"I'm telling you, Riv, I saw her, she was real." Nabu protested, "I'm going to find her, and I'm going to marry her." Just then they heard Faragonda and Layla come in.

"Come on, sweetheart." Faragonda encouraged Layla, "Don't be shy." And then she stepped out from the hallway in a beautiful green dress, guided by Faragonda.

"Well, Nabu, doesn't she look great?" Riven thought out loud as Layla smiled.

"Yeah, you look amazing." Nabu agreed.

"Thank you." Layla told them both.

"Here, let me help you sit." Riven offered as he helped Layla in the chair at the dining room table, "How is that?"

"That's perfect, thank you." Layla told Riven, who was being a gentleman for Nabu's sake. Just then, she noticed a fork beside her plate, and picked it up and began combing her hair with it. They two men at the table gave her an awkward look.

"What?" Layla asked, "Isn't this a comb?"

"No, that's a fork, you use it to eat." Nabu explained in a bit of a laugh. Layla blushed a little, but then saw Riven smoking his pipe.

"Would you like to try it?" Riven offered, and handed it to her. She blew hard, and the smoke blew up in Riven's face, making Nabu laugh hard, and even Ms Faragonda came to join the laughter.

"Prince Nabu, that is the first time I've seen you smile in days." Faragonda told him.

"Ha ha, very funny," Riven thought, "Faragonda, what are we having for dinner?"

"Ooh, Chef Spolia is cooking one of his specialities, stuffed crab." Faragonda told him cheerfully.

Meanwhile, Saladin peaked from a vase to see the chef of the palace take out a bowl of raw, dead fish from the fridge as he sang. The chef then chopped the heads off the fish and pulled out the bones and Saladin watched through his claws, it was like a horror film right in front of his eyes. He snuck up around the table, but he was cut off by a fish head and gasped in complete terror. He tried to get away, and hid under a lettuce leaf while still crawling across the counter. As the chef was covering the fish in salt, he turned around to notice the lettuce leaf on the counter.

"Oh, I looks like I missed something." He replied, "Now how could I miss the main ingredient, a crab." Then he tossed Saladin in a bowl with sauce and covered him with flour. After he threw the crab into a boiling pot of water, Saladin grasped onto the side of the pot as a bubble popped, causing him to fall back onto the counter. The chef turned around after grabbing a crab fork to notice that the crab was on the counter once again.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" He asked, as he picked Saladin up with the fork. Suddenly Saladin pinched his nose, and jumped beside another boiling pot. As dumb as it was, the chef tried to grab Saladin, but the pot tipped over and fell on his feel. The chef dropped the pot on his foot and began jumping all over, then he grabbed all his cutting knives and began throwing them to try and get Saladin. Though, the crab had another plan up his sleeve and jumped on the opposite counter where the sauce bowl was, and pushed it down so it fell on top of the chef's head. He destroyed the counter to get Saladin, be he kept running away, The chef threw his cleaver at Saladin, but missed just by inches, and Saladin hid somewhere else, only for the chef to come at him with a hammer. Everyone in the dining room could hear all the commotion coming from the kitchen as the looked in that particular direction.

"I should see what is going on in there." Faragonda suggested as she went into the kitchen. But with the chef and Saladin, the chef was throwing things every which way just to try and find the crab.

"Come on, you little sea creature!" He shouted furiously, "Come out and give up!"

"Chef Spolia!" Faragonda shouted, entering the totally destroyed kitchen, "What do you think you are doing?"

"Just... organizing the kitchen." Spolia chuckled, and with that, Faragonda grabbed the prepared dishes and stomped out of the room.

Back in the dining room, Riven was suggesting something to Nabu for the following day.

"Maybe our new friend here would like to see some of the sights of Magix." He was saying, "Like a tour or something. You can't spend your time hanging around here all day, you need to get out there again. " And with that, he lifted his plate up to reveal Saladin sitting there.

"Saladin." Layla whispered.

"Now hang on a minute, Riven." Nabu began, "It isn't such a bad idea."

"Over here, Saladin." Layla continued to whisper as Saladin crawled hurriedly over to her plate. Saladin closed it suddenly when Nabu turned to her.

"So, would you like to see my kingdom tomorrow morning?" Nabu asked.

"I would love to." Layla answered him.

"Great," Riven cheered, "now let's get to eating before this crab walks off my plate." And when he looked down, he noticed that his crab _had_ actually walked off his plate.


	7. Attempts for a Kiss

Chapter Seven: Attempts for a Kiss

That night, Layla watched Nabu from the window of her bedroom. Nabu was playing with Milly on the balcony below the guess room. When he looked up to notice Layla looking at him, she waved and slide back into the bedroom shyly.

"This has to be the most embarrassing day of my life, Layla." Saladin told her in frustration.

"It's okay, Saladin." Layla told him, feeling for the dresser, "I got you out of that mess."

"I hope you appreciate the things I get myself into because of you." Saladin scolded.

"Yes, I do Saladin, believe me I do." Layla told Saladin.

"I'm glad, now we have to make a plan to get Prince Nabu to kiss you." Saladin began as Layla laid on the bed and turned to fall asleep, "You're going to look your best tomorrow when he's going to take you for that tour..." But Layla was already fast asleep, so Saladin turned off the light and hoped up on her pillow beside Layla.

"You are hopeless, princess, absolutely hopeless." He yawned.

* * *

Meanwhile, King Teredor looked out his window to see Livy, the royal messenger, return from yet another search party.

"Any sign of Layla?" He asked her.

"None at all, neither her or Saladin has shown up." Livy informed him.

"Well, don't let any part of this ocean by unexplored, no one is allowed to sleep until Layla is safe and sound." King Teredor told Livy.

Livy sighed, "Yes, your Majesty." And with that, the little seahorse left the King of Andros to worry and swim up to his throne.

"Oh what have I done?" He thought sadly, "Now my little Layla won't come home."

* * *

The next morning at sunrise, Faragonda waved as Nabu and Layla went into town on a carriage ride. Nabu let Layla take the rains of the horse, and she was good for a while, but when Nabu turned to her, she was looking underneath the carriage at the horse's legs. When they crossed a bridge, Anne swam up to the path, trying to get a good look at them. She managed to talk to Saladin for a minute.

"Has Prince Nabu kissed Layla yet?" She asked him.

"Nope, not yet." Saladin told her.

"Aw!" Anne sighed. In town, Layla was watching a puppet show, and took the puppet right off the puppeteer's hand, and all Nabu could do was laugh. Then the two of them danced to music in the square. A while later, Chatta flew over the carriage and met up with Anne.

"Have they kissed yet?" She asked Anne.

"Not yet." Anne told her.

"They had better hurry up!" Chatta thought out loud. Nabu gave Layla the reins of the horse again, this time she made the horse speed up, and they were headed for a cliff, but the horse jumped, causing them to reach the other side in one piece. Now Nabu could relax as Layla continued to take control.

* * *

That night, Nabu and Layla rode a paddle boat on the lake. Anne and Chatta watched them, and nothing was going on yet.

"Move your feathers, Chatta, I can't see them." Anne whispered.

"Nothing's happening yet Anne." Chatta told her, "One day left and that boy hasn't attempted a kiss once! Time to take matters into my own hands." And then she landed on the branch and tried to sing a song for them. Nabu just shrugged.

"Something must be wrong with that bird." He thought.

"Oh Chatta," Layla laughed in a whisper, "you are so bad."

"I'm surrounded by idiots here!" Saladin shouted, jumping into the water, "No if you want something done correctly, you have to do it by yourself." And with the animals in the lake, he constructed an orchestra to play romantic music for the moment, and after a while, Nabu began looking into Layla's eyes. Pretty soon the entire lake lit up with colour and music as fish and other creatures surrounded the boat, and they were all pressuring Nabu just to kiss her. And at the end, he went in for it, and their lips slowly began to meet. When suddenly the boat tipped right over.

"Hang on, Layla, I'm here!" Nabu called as Stormy and Darcy high fived before diving down into the water again.

"Nicely done, Sisters." Icy told the two other witched, "That was way to close for comfort. She's better at this than I thought. At this rate Prince Nabu will be kissing her by sunrise tomorrow! Its time I took matters into my own hands! Teredor's daughter will be in my hands, and I see him squirm like a worm on a hook!"

* * *

Later that night, Nabu sat by the balcony playing the flute, when Riven came up to him quietly.

"Nabu, buddy, I just have to say that if you're looking for your dream girl, maybe consider someone who has been right here this whole time." He told Nabu before leaving, all Nabu could do was look up at the guest room where Layla stayed, and watched her feel through her hair with a brush. Then he smiled, looking at her, and thought about it for a minute before throwing his flute into the ocean with defeat. As Nabu was about to go inside the castle, he suddenly he saw something, or someone, emerge from the water. Her silhouette drifted across the water's surface, and Nabu could see the beautiful deep sea blue eyes that once were Layla's, and with the dark magic Icy possessed, he was instantly entranced by her.

* * *

The next morning, Chatta flew happily around the castle in search of Layla's bedroom. She had important new for Layla and Saladin that was very crucial to getting Layla turned into a human permanently.

"Layla, Layla!" She called out, flying into the open window of the guest room, "I have great news! We did it!"

"Chatta?" Layla asked, "What did we do?"

"What is this nuisance talking about?" Saladin asked, waking up beside Layla.

"Like you didn't know." Chatta began, "The entire kingdom is in a commotion about Prince Nabu tying the knot this afternoon."

"Tying what knot?" Layla asked Chatta.

"I mean he's getting married!" Chatta clarified, "Good luck, Layla, I wouldn't miss this for the world!" And then, Chatta left out the window with joy.

"You don't mean Prince Nabu could've-?" Layla thought as she carefully felt her way out of bed and got the cane that Nabu had got for her, "Thank you so much Saladin! You did it." And so, Layla walked slowly out the door, feeling her way down the hallway and down the long staircase, and when she reached the main floor, she could hear Nabu and Riven talking. Layla felt for a pillar and hid to hear the conversation.

"Well, I'll be, Nabu." Riven chuckled, "I was completely wrong the entire time, this dream girl of yours actually does exist. Congratulations, I hope you like it here."

"Thank you." Another voice replied, one of which Layla was not familiar with at all.

"We want to be married as soon as we can." Nabu told Riven.

"What?" Layla whispered, "I thought Nabu loved me?" Saladin had followed Layla down the stairs and was so sad to hear this news too.

"These things take time, Nabu." Riven warned.

"This afternoon, Riven," Nabu instructed, "the Royal Wedding Ship departs before sunset."

"Okay, Nabu, you're the prince." Riven sighed. As Layla heard this, she turned away and began feeling her way down the hallway back to her room to cry. No one but the new girl, who was Icy in disguise, noticed. She laughed wickedly as she batted her eyes, which were originally Layla's eyes.


	8. The Spell Breaks

Chapter Eight: The Spell Breaks

It was now late afternoon, and while everyone was rejoicing, laughing and talking on the Royal Wedding Ship, Layla stood at the dock watching the ship depart. She pulled herself toward a pillar on the edge of the dock and leaned against it. She knew that the ship was leaving as the chatter became distant, so she slide down the pillow and sat there with her head in her hands and continued to cry. Saladin crawled toward her sadly, and watched her cry as he lowered his head in hopelessness. Layla looked up for a minute to let a tear fall from her colourless eyes into the water, where Anne was watching her, and seeing her best friend cry made her want to cry as well. The three of them sat there, very sad that Layla had not gotten her wish. Meanwhile, Chatta flew over the Royal Wedding Ship, singing to herself, when she heard the voice of the new mystery girl who had stolen Nabu's heart overnight. She peaked into the porthole of the ship right into her dressing room, where Icy in disguise was singing as well. Unfortunately for Icy, however, she was singing about her plans to rule the oceans, and capture Layla for her own in the process. She stepped onto her vanity and pulled the mirror toward her, revealing her true form within her reflection. Chatta gulped as she saw who this new girl actually was.

"It's Icy, she's going to marry Nabu!" Chatta whispered, "I have to tell Layla!" And so she flew back to where Layla, Saladin and Anne were watching as she called out Layla's name frantically.

"Layla, I was flying over the wedding ship, and I saw Icy watching the mirror... And she had your eyes!" Chatta told Layla as she faced the direction of Chatta's voice.

"What?" Layla asked in shock.

"Don't you get it?" Chatta continued, "Prince Nabu is going to marry Icy in disguise!"

"Are you completely sure, Chatta?" Saladin asked her.

"Have I ever steered you wrong when it really counts?" Chatta reassured them.

"So what are we going to do?" Anne asked.

"I got an idea." Layla began, standing up carefully on the dock, she faced out in the direction of the setting sun, and remembered what Icy had told her, she had to be kissed by the sunset of her third day on land. She then felt for the edge of the dock, and jumped into the water. Saladin snipped off a couple of barrels for Layla.

"Anne, help Layla grab on to the barrels, then get her to that wedding ship as fast as you possibly can!" He instructed.

"I'll try my best, my friend's dream is at stake!" Anne assured them both.

"You're the best, Anne." Layla told her best friend as they began swimming toward the Royal Wedding Ship.

"I have to get to King Teredor, he has to know about this." Saladin panicked.

"What about me?" Chatta asked Saladin.

"You have to find anyway you can to stall the wedding!" Saladin told her.

"Right, I have the perfect plan to do that." So Chatta flew away, calling forward her friends from the air and sea, and they followed her across the ocean to the wedding ship.

"Come on, guys, Princess Layla needs our help!" She shouted to them as they headed to the ship.

* * *

One the ship, Nabu and who everyone called Mitzi, but was really Icy in disguise, began walking down the aisle. Milly was sitting on the side, and began making noises of protest for this new girl, however Mitzi just kicked her, and she hopped away in fright, and Mitzi looked back at Nabu. Once they reached the podium, the minister began reciting from his book.

"Dearly beloved," He began, "We are gathered here today to honour the union of Prince Nabu and Mitzi."

* * *

While the wedding continued, Anne pulled Layla along toward the wedding ship.

"Don't you worry, Layla, we'll make it!" She reassured her, out of breath.

* * *

Meanwhile back at the wedding, the minister had continued reciting from the book he had in from of him.

"And do you, Prince Nabu, take Mitzi to be your wife for as long as you both live?" He asked Nabu.

" I do." He answered without hesitation.

"And do you-" The minister continued, when suddenly Chatta and her friends flew in from the air, heading straight for Mitzi. She ducked just in time before they could attack, but when she stood up, they attacked her again as Milly began making excited noise and everyone began running around in a panic. Seals hopped across the deck and birds splashed Mitzi with water, and crabs grabbed onto her nose, and starfish flew on top of Mitzi's dress and face. She pulled the starfish off her face with annoyance.

"Get out of here!" She screamed, "Go on, get!" But the birds continued to attack, and the seals began playing with her as well. Now, Anne and Layla were at the edge of the ship, and Anne guided Layla's hands to a rope, and she managed to feel her way up the boat. On the ship, a seal tossed Mitzi right into the wedding cake, and she screamed as dishes flew everywhere. Once she stood up, she was strayed in the face by a seal, and Chatta squawked right in her ear.

"Go away!" She yelled back, and Milly hopped over behind Mitzi and bit her in the leg. Layla climbed up the rope and slid onto the wedding deck where all the chaos was taking place. Chatta was pulling on the seashell that contained Layla's sight, and when Milly bit her, it snapped from Mitzi's neck and fell to the floor, shattering into pieces as she screamed once again. A bright light shine from the broken pieces of the seashell, and it surrounded Layla, in moments, her sight was back. Everyone watched as Layla regained her sight.

"I can see again, I can see!" Layla cried out in pure happiness. Nabu, however, snapped right out of Mitzi's trance once the shell had been broken.

"Layla," He asked, walking towards her, "You can see!"

"Nabu!" Layla cried out.

"You're the one, they were your beautiful eyes I saw after the shipwreck!" Nabu continued.

"Nabu, get away from her!" Mitzi shouted.

"I can't believe it was you all the time and I didn't know it." Nabu told Layla.

"I really tried to tell you, but-" Layla replied as they began to kiss.

"Nabu, no!" Mitzi cried out, and at once, the sun had set, and Layla fell from Nabu's arms, turning back into a mermaid, "You're too late, you're too late!" And with that, Mitzi turned back into Icy, making everyone watch gasp in horror. Icy crawled over to Layla and grabbed her.

"See you around, Prince Nabu!" Icy laughed wickedly with Layla struggling in her grasp, then they jumped off the boat and into the water.

"Layla!" Nabu shouted after her.


	9. Icy's Evil Storm

Chapter Nine: Icy's Evil Storm

Icy dragged Princess Layla of Andros back under the waters of the sea as the mermaid princess struggled in her grasp.

"Don't worry Princess," The evil mermaid witch reassured her, "I'm not after you specifically, but a more powerful mer-person-" But before Icy could finish her statement, she was stopped in her tracks by King Teredor himself.

"Hold it right there, Icy!" He demanded sharply as Saladin stood on the ground beside him.

"Well, isn't it the mighty King of Andros?" Icy laughed, "Teredor, who are you these days?"

"Let my daughter free this instant, Icy!" Teredor boomed furiously.

"I can't do that, Teredor." Icy told him, "She belongs to me now, she signed a contract."

"Dad, I'm really sorry, I didn't know she was going to trick me like this!" Layla protested while Stormy and Darcy held her back. King Teredor tried to take off his daughter's signature from Icy's contract, throwing Icy against a stone wall in the process, however he was unsuccessful.

"I told you!" Icy cackled, "This contract is legit, completely unbreakable, even for the most powerful merman in all of Andros." With this, Teredor was getting very ticked off with Icy, and increasingly worried about his youngest daughter's freedom.

"However I always was a woman who could find a good deal." Icy continued to Teredor, " Your youngest daughter is a very valuable and precious jewel..." And with those words, Icy trapped Layla in a block of frozen ice, so she would not be able to talk her father out of him bargain with Icy.

"But I am able to make a trade off," Icy continued, "for someone even more valuable."

* * *

Meanwhile on the surface, it had gotten stormy that night because of the negative energy radiating off of Icy's dark powers. Nabu had jumped off the Royal Wedding ship onto a life boat and began rowing towards the middle of the water to try and find Layla.

"What are you doing, Nabu!" Riven shouted, "It's dangerous down there!"

"I've lost Layla one time too many!" Nabu protested.

* * *

Back with Icy and Teredor, Layla watched her father from her frozen position, scared of his final decision.

"So what will it be Teredor," Icy pressured, "can we make a deal?"

"Yes, we can." Teredor answered evenly as he used his powerful staff to sign his own contract, he would take Layla's place as Icy's prisoner for all eternity. He knew that Layla was young and still had a lot to learn, and her determination to meet Nabu was stronger than anything her father could do as a punishment towards her. He also knew that this was a mistake Layla did not intend to make, and as much as he wanted to punish her for going off and signing a contract with the most evil mermaid known to Andros, he never wanted to lose his youngest daughter, for she resembled her late mother the most, and she still had a lot to learn. On the other hand, he could learn a lot from her as well, he could learn that not all humans were bad, and perhaps one day humans and mer-people could live in harmony, Layla could just as well be the key to the union of both worlds. So Teredor decided, with or without him, his little Layla could find a way back to Nabu, and find peace both in her heart, and between the underwater kingdom of Andros, and the land bond kingdom of Magix.

"The deal has been done!" Icy laughed as the ice around Layla disappeared, and reappeared around King Teredor, leaving his crown untouched.

"Dad, no!" Layla cried out, "Dad!"

"King Teredor?" Saladin asked sadly. One the surface, Nabu could sense the evil magic being used at the spot down below where Icy, Layla and Teredor were located, and he jumped down to see what was happening, and save Layla. With Layla, Saladin and Icy, the princess of Andros was shocked to discover what her father had done for her, and with terrified of the events that would follow.

"Dad?" She asked once again in horror.

"Finally, they are mine!" Icy laughed wickedly, "The crown and staff of Andros are mine!"

"You are an evil, heartless creature!" Layla screamed, lunging at Icy defensively.

"Don't you mess with me you pathetic little pixie!" Icy shouted, "Rather I have a contract or not I-" Suddenly, Icy was hit by a blast from Nabu's magic staff.

"Nabu, watch out!" Layla shouted, "She'll destroy you!"

"Why you little!" Icy shouted, "Sisters, after that meddling prince!" So Stormy and Darcy swam up, chasing after Nabu as he swam to the surface. He made it up for a minute, only to be pulled down again by the two evil mermaids.

"I'll help you!" Saladin offered as he and Anne began attacking Stormy and Darcy, and while they were distracted, they set Nabu free. Saladin pinched Darcy on the tail as Anna began fighting with Stormy. When they let go, the two evil sisters looked stunned.

"Say goodbye to your prince, Layla!" Icy laughed, turning King Teredor's staff towards Nabu who was swimming there, losing air quickly. Layla gasped in terror as she pulled Icy back before she could attack, and instead of hitting Nabu, she hit both her sisters.

"My sisters, my lovely sisters!" Icy snapped, "You are going to pay for that, Princess!" And while Layla began swimming Nabu to the surface so he could get some air in his lungs, Icy used her dark powers combined with the power of Teredor's staff to make herself grow with fury and hunger for vengeance from the defeat of her two sisters. Anne and Saladin could see the power surrounding Icy and gasped to wonder what would happen next.

* * *

On the surface, Nabu and Layla swam toward each other as the prince of Magix held the mermaid princess of Andros in his arms.

"Nabu, you have to get away from here, you won't be able to fight against Icy!" Layla protested.

"No, I finally know exactly who I was looking for this entire time, and I'm not going to leave you!" Nabu told Layla with fierce determination. Just then, the water below them began to light up and bubble with dark energy, and Icy emerged from the water, making Layla and Nabu separate in between the points of the crown on the gigantic evil ice powered mermaid as Icy laughed triumphantly. Knowing they had to be together no matter what, Layla and Nabu jumped a far distance from the top of Icy's head to the surface of the water and began their embrace once again, Nabu holding Layla for dear life as Icy's booming laugh surrounded them.

"You pathetic, powerless insects!" She laughed in a bellowing voice as she shot the couple with a shard of ice.

"Watch out!" Nabu shouted as they swam in either direction of the iceberg.

"Now that I am the rule of Andros, the waves will do all of my bidding!" Icy continued loudly as she created huge waves, making Nabu fall away from Princess Layla.

"Nabu, no!" Layla screamed out.

"The ocean and all they occupy it will be force to bow to my unmeasurable powers!" Icy proclaimed, now making a whirlpool on the surface of the water, lifting ships from the bottom of the ocean back to the surface. Layla tried fiercely to get back to Nabu, but the ships that returned from their wrecked states were making it hard, and with the huge waves, she saw Nabu get pushed under the water.

"Nabu!" Layla cried out worriedly, however, he was able to grab onto the ropes of one of the wrecked ships and pull himself up, rolling onto the deck. The princess of Andros was near the whirlpool, and Icy used the opportunity to bring her to an end by using Teredor's staff on her. She shot Layla back as she fell deep down into the bottom of the whirlpool on the ocean floor. Nabu saw what had just happened and began running toward the wheel of the wrecked ship. Layla looked up at the gigantic mermaid witch that was about to destroy her as Icy continued to blast her with her father's staff. Nabu carefully steered the ship toward where Icy was located, and then, Icy was about to deliver the final blow to Layla.

"It looks like true love won't conquer this time!" She laughed viciously as she lifted Teredor's staff and aimed it right at Layla as the Princess of Andros's eyes widened in total fear. On the wrecked ship, Nabu let down a spear, and rode the boat right into the heart of the evil ice powered sea mermaid. And with the multiple lightening strikes in the sky, one hit Icy's huge body as well, and she began glowing with electricity and sinking before finally dissolving into ocean's depths as both Anne and Saladin watched the event occur. Nabu managed to climb back on the shore while the wrecked ships returned to the bottom of the sea, and Teredor's staff dropped from the surface of the sea toward Icy's lair, and with its power, it released all the mer-people who Icy had held captive in ice for so long, and they all swam away happily and relieved to be free. And then the staff fell to the bottom of the sea, right where it's rightful possessor was trapped, and the positive energy of the staff set the King of Andros free at last. Now he was once again ruler of the oceans, and everything was back to its normal glory.

* * *

On the surface, Princess Layla of Andros watched the exhausted Prince of Magix, and wished to be with him once more. Teredor, Anne and Saladin watched Layla sadly stare at her beloved from afar, and it made Teredor sad to see his daughter unhappy.

"I suppose she really does love Prince Nabu if she was willing to go through all this just to be with him." He began.

"Not to mention he really does love her if he was willing to save her life." Saladin pointed out, " But I just figured out that young teens just need to be free to lead their own paths and make their own mistakes."

"Then I guess there is one problem left to solve." Teredor sighed sadly, "How much I'm going to miss my little Layla." And so, he used his own staff to send a spell toward sad and heartbroken Layla to turn her back into a human permanently. Layla looked up as she saw the bright light in the water, and smiled brightly at her dad.

"Thank you, Dad!" She shouted happily as she jumped into the water, and when she rose up again, she was wearing a beautiful sea green dress that sparkled wonderfully. Nabu was amazed and quickly sat up when he saw her walk out of the water. He ran straight for her and twirled her in his arms before they shared a passionate kiss.

* * *

Princess Layla of Andros and Prince Nabu of Magix finally got married, and they shared the beautiful kiss of matrimony, however, Milly just had to interfere, and Layla was happy to let her. Everyone, both fins or feet, was invited to this wedding, and just like Teredor had thought, his youngest daughter would bring about a whole new union between the land and ocean occupants. Everyone cheered, and even Faragonda began crying happily. All of Layla's sisters waved happily at her from the surface of the water, and Chatta tried to fly Anne up toward Layla so that they all could share in a friendly hug. Meanwhile, Saladin managed to get on top of the wedding cake, and watched as the castle chef, one of the very few in Magix who liked to eat fish, began to chase him once again with a cleaver. As he dodged the attack, the chef cut the cake down the middle, but did not wreck its beauty. The chef continued to chase Saladin across the deck of the Royal Wedding ship, until Saladin got an idea. He snipped a rope which was attached to a pole, and the pole hit the chef right in the face, knocking out all his teeth. When the chef was distracted, Saladin jumped back into the water with Anne and Chatta.

"Yes," He shouted, "he'll think twice before messing with me!" On the ship, Layla walked up to the edge of the boat in her beautiful wedding dress, and Teredor used the waves of the surface of the ocean to lift himself up to see her. He looked at his daughter proudly, and embraced her in a hug.

"I love you so much, Dad," Layla whispered, "thank you for everything." And once she got her hug, she turned back toward Nabu, who bowed before the King of Andros, and as Teredor departed, Layla blew him a kiss. Nabu walked up to Layla as they both waved to the people of Andros. In joyous celebration of the union of the land and sea, Teredor created an incredibly colourful rainbow in the sky with his staff for all to see. And as the Royal Wedding Ship set sail for their honeymoon, Nabu pulled Layla in for a romantic and passionate kiss.


End file.
